Discussion

help me explore chicago

i'll be in chicago--FIRST TIME!--from Sat. 12 to Wed. 16 to attend a conference. i'll be free in the evenings and would like to explore the city a bit and its culinary diversity. i'll be staying near michigan and roosevelt. maybe i should focus on downtown? i'm not too much of a drinker but as for the kind of food, i'm excited about trying everything, really. so help me out! thanks in advance

Taylor Street(Italian is a not not too long cab ride as is Greek town. Francesca's on taylor is my current favorite and in Greektown, I like Athena, not because of the food which is fine but not fabulous but the outdoor seating. You are also near auditorium Theater which can have all sorts of wonderful music and dance. Not too far from the Harris Theater. Get a Time Out chicago.

There are many, MANY restaurants of all kinds in Chicago! However, there are not many within walking distance of where you are staying. Here is a recent topic which lists those close by:www.chowhound.com/topics/368426

Let's start by looking at what's closest to where you're staying. Roosevelt is 1200 South, so the ones shown in that topic with addresses in the 1100-1400 blocks of Wabash are all within walking distance. (Wabash is one block over from Michigan.) Others mentioned in that topic (like Custom House and Cuatro) are about a mile away, which is borderline for walking distance, and anyplace else (including Chinatown, Taylor Street, Greek Town, and the Auditorium theater mentioned in replies above) is going to be significantly further (i.e. more than a mile). However, Chicago has excellent public transit (bus and subway) and cabs are plentiful. Once you're looking at places a bit further, there are so many places that it just depends on what kind of food you're looking for; within a 4-5 mile radius you can find just about anything you want. Here are some other recent discussions that can give you some ideas of kinds of food, and specific recommendations for each:

thanks all for taking the time to reply. i noticed how many people have asked the same kind of question over again, so my bad for being lazy and not researching enough before asking the obvious questions ;) i have to admit i haven't really done my homework yet so i don't know what's around my hotel. i just know i'll be going to see bjork at the auditorium theater and that's walking distance. anyway, thanks for the great advice and i'm so looking forward to coming to chicago

Note - the distances noted in my previous post above assumed that when you said you were at "michigan and roosevelt" you were referring to Roosevelt ROAD. If you were referring to Roosevelt UNIVERSITY, which is where the Auditorium Theater is located, then that's on Michigan Avenue just north of Congress Parkway, about 3/4 mile north of Roosevelt ROAD. In that case, that puts the restaurants around 1100-1400 Wabash (and Chinatown and Cuatro) 3/4 mile further away than previously indicated, but puts a lot of restaurants in the Loop nearby.

If you're looking for restaurants near the Auditorium Theater (and Roosevelt University), take a look at this topic:www.chowhound.com/topics/370730It lists places close to the Palmer House Hilton, which is just a couple of blocks from the Auditorium.